Pages

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

The Smarties & Kit Kat Double Chocolate Birthday Cake!

Last week was Byron's birthday! I have been anticipating baking his cake for about the past 2 months now! and I had big plans...that didn't last for too long when he told me he wanted a Smarties cake....

again?? I hear you say! yes I know...again! I was disappointed too...apparently the smarties cakes of '09and '10 were so great he didn't want to break with tradition! Could I even convince him to have m&m's so at least we could have incorporated a bit of flavour in there like mint or coconut? no...only Smarties would do!

So Smarties it was...and a whole lot of Smarties too - I initially bought 7 tubes of smarties to pile on top of the cake but at the last minute dashed out to buy 7 more! What the birthday boy wants the birthday boy gets! although I guess 14 is an improvement on the 22 tubes I had to buy for his cake last year!

I finished it off with this lovely purple chiffon bow, purple is my FAVE colour and I think it's even starting to rub off on Byron a little since a few weeks ago he bought a purple polo shirt and he would have never have done that at one time! so I decided to strike while the iron is hot and press on with the purple theme!

Cue matching purple fountain candle! These things are the best! and certainly make everything seem more impressive, I even managed to sneak some little cupcake candles in there too!

and this time round I'm not going to leave you hanging, I've decided to not be lazy and post it without the recipe...I even had to delve into the attic to get out my recipe book to make sure I posted it perfectly so here's hoping it goes to some use! This is hands down the best chocolate cake I've ever eaten, it always turns out delicious and stays moist for up to a week after too! Perfectly chocolatey without being too rich, and even being paired with the chocolate frosting isn't an overkill! If you're looking for a go to chocolate celebration cake recipe - this one is a winner!

The book says it makes two 8-inch cakes, but I managed to make three 8-inch cakes with this recipe!

Ingredients:

230g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids - I used Lindt)

170g unsalted butter, at room temperature

350g light soft brown sugar

3 large eggs, free range or organic, separated

370g plain flour, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

500ml semi skimmed milk, at room temperature

2 teaspoons good quality vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees c.

Break the choc into pieces and melt in 30 second intervals in a glass bowl in the microwave. Set bowl aside to cool.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl for 3-5 minutes until the mix is pale and smooth.

Put the egg yolks in a separate bowl and beat them for several minutes, slowly add the egg yolks to the creamed butter and sugar and beat well.

Add the cooled chocolate to this mixture and beat well again.

Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a separate bowl. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a jug. Add one third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in one third of the milk and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk have been added.

In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Carefully fold the egg whites into the main batter using a metal spoon (Do not beat or you will take the air out of the mixture).

Divide the mixture evenly between the tins and bake for about 30 minutes.

Insert a skewer in the centre of one of the cakes, it should come out clean if cooked. Leave to cool.

To Decorate:

Chocolate buttercream frosting:

175g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids - I used Lindt)

225g unsalted butter, at room temp

1 tablespoon semi-skimmed milk, at room temp

1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract

250g icing sugar, sifted

Melt the chocolate in 30 second intervals in a glass bowl in the microwave until smooth. Leave to cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter, milk, vanilla and icing sugar until smooth - this can take several minutes with an electric hand mixer.

Add the melted chocolate and beat again until thick and creamy. If it looks too runny to use, simply keep beating to thicken.

To Assemble:

1 batch of Chocolate frosting

14 tubes of Smarties

20 two-finger Kit Kats

FYI:

Don't do like I did and buy 4 multi packs of Kit Kats, the cake I took my insipiration from on google was clearly baked in way bigger pans than I used and so I had waaaay too many Kit Kats left over!

Do do like I did and check each Kit Kat once it is unwrapped for imperfections...only the prettiest looking made the cut for my cake, yes that did mean I ended up eating about 8 lots of rejects...all in the name of quality control of course!

Sandwich the cakes together with a generous layer of chocolate frosting. Then decorate all around the sides of the cake with the same frosting, you can be as messy as you like as the Kit Kats then go on top but they may not sit perfectly straight if your frosting isn't perfectly straight so I still smoothed down my sides!

Brush a very thin amount of frosting onto the back of each Kit Kat and starting at the base of the cake stick them around the edge.

Once you have a completed edge, fill the middle of your cake with Smarties!

Different ovens can operate differently. I have made this in 3 different ovens over the past year and it has never needed more than 35 mins. Over an hour is a very long time for a shallow cake baking, I would be worried it would be burning around the edge. Unless you have baked it in a very deep pan?

Looks fab! Thank you for sharing. I'm planning on making a Kit Kat cake for my son's birthday next month but he also wants a Toy Story theme. I have a choc cake recipe but fear it will be a bit too gooey for the cake toppers and Smarties weight to cope with. I'm going to give your recipe a try as if the cake can hold that many Smarties then I am sure it can cope with the cake topper and a few less smarties :)

Thanks. I'll be sure to post pics and let you know how it goes. I found some ribbon in Buzz Lightyear and Woody colours so am all set now.

Out of interest, I am planning on making this a 9" cake. Do you think that would serve 12 kids plus a few adults or should I make a smaller one as well just in case. I think I'd like to be able to have a small one at home for the family and one for the party.

Oh the ribbon sounds great! I think it would definitely serve 12 kids and 3-4 adults because you don't need to cut very large slices of it as it's quite rich. However if you're having more adults than that I'd probably suggest a smaller one too just in case. Good luck!

It was my son's 16th birthday this week so i made him his favourite fudgey chocolate cake but decorated it like yours but swapping smarties for his favourite - m&m's. he absolutely loved it so thank you for your fab idea!you can see my efforts here http://dellipopscakery.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/birthday-boy.html

This cake looks amazing and I'm going to make it for my son's birthday. Could you use milk chocolate rather than plain chocolate? Also when i've decorated a frosted cake with smarties before the smarties loose their bright colour the day after. Should I make this on the day of his birthday so this doesn't happen? Thanks Ganine.

Hi Ganine. I've only ever heard of smarties loosing their colour after being frozen. You don't put the cake in the fridge do you? Cake should always be kept in an airtight container at room temperature to maintain the best texture. When I made this cake, we were still eating it 5 days later and the smarties were still just as vibrant so you shouldn't have a problem with that. You can use milk chocolate but it won't taste as good. What's your reason for wanting to use milk? I don't like to eat plain chocolate on it's own but I always use it in baking because it produces the best chocolate flavour, using milk chocolate will make the flavour too weak. Good luck - I'm sure your son will love it!

I'm going to have a go at this on Friday for my fiance's birthday! He's 28 mind, but still a big kid hehe!Can i ask, will the kitkats stay on without a ribbon as i forgot to pick something up?!Also he doesn't like smarties so i'm replacing them with milk and white chocolate buttons and a happy birthday candle holder! I've only ever made 1 cake before so i'm praying this goes well!

I'm sure he'll love it! My husband was 25 when I made it and he still loved it!The KitKats will stay on as the frosting will hold them, the ribbon adds a bit of extra security but you should manage without it. I'm sure it will look great with chocolate buttons too - good luck! Let me know how it turns out!

I'm making my twin sons birthday cake for Saturday, last year I did an elaborate pirate ship one but I just don't have the energy this year! I knew i wanted to do something with smarties, I googled and a couple of smarties themed cakes popped up but this wad by far the most amazingest!!! Thankyou for the inspiration :) Laura xx

You're welcome Laura! Hope your boys have a lovely birthday, I'm sure they'll enjoy this cake just as much without knowing it's a super quick cake to throw together! The chocolate cake and frosting is my favourite go to chocolate cake, it will definitely impress!

Thank you for sharing the amazing receipe. All the tips were very useful to me as I am just starting to get into baking. I tried the Primrose bakery Chocolate cake a few times. Lat week, I finally got to bake the cake with kit kats and M&M's instead of smarties for my cousin sister who turned 15 and she absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for the inspiration. I am going to try some of your cup cake receipes next :) Martha xx

Hi Holly, so glad you enjoyed the cake! I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to help you out with that. If it was just cocoa powder that made it chocolate you could maybe substitute it out but it's the melted chocolate that gives it the flavour and if you take that out then you're losing a lot of the liquid/moisture too. It would be a completely different cake, so you're better off just looking for a vanilla sponge recipe I guess. Can't you convince her chocolate is the way to go? Vanilla cake is sooo boring! So I'm afraid I have no good advice on recipes to use because I just never make it!

Hello! I've been on holiday and just checked back to the blog to see your reply!

The problem is she wants white chocolate kit kats and something more "weddingy" on the top. I was thinking of filling the centre with sugar flowers or maybe fresh roses, what do you think?.In terms of making it white i think ive answered my own question....use white chocolate in the recipie instead!!

You could but the cake won't turn out as well. The whisking the egg whites makes them fluffy and when you stir that into the mixture it gives it a better texture, throwing in the eggs as is would be missing one of the parts that makes this cake so great!